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Sharing happiness

209 Magazine

Posted:
Oct. 3, 2018, 1 p.m.

by Teresa Hammond

Erica Ormsby has found her niche. The wife and mother of one is a living, breathing example of what she believes. In her words she is, “happy, healthy and free.”

Her passion for this life is so strong, in fact, that her recently released book, “I Am Happy. Healthy. Free.” takes readers through a succinct way of accessing this for themselves.

Before finding her words as an author, Ormsby has been touching and changing lives throughout the 209. Her initial endeavor came by way of opening a gym a decade ago, after spending time as a personal trainer in Los Angeles.

“I would say I’ve been into personal development space for 18 years, starting with fitness and health originally,” she said.

Now she finds her time staying busy as an inspirational speaker, entrepreneur and personal/professional development coach.

It’s a life which she shares in her book she came by in her own personal transformation as she journeyed through a rough patch early on in her life.

As noted in her book, Ormsby shares that by 13 years of age she was dealing with alcoholism, sexual trauma and feelings of hopelessness. Masking it all from her loving family, by the age of 17 she attempted to take her life. Ultimately through counseling and an experience she describes as a “spiritual awakening” the inspirational speaker began to set her sights on not just healing but becoming hope filled.

“To be sitting here today,” she said, “it showed me through my own experience, my own journey from chaos to doing fantastic. That journey was the one that showed if I can do this everyone can.”

Through this experience, Ormsby believes that the ability to live authentic to who you are and in so doing touch the lives of others is something everyone desires, yet most just don’t know how to access.

“It was never just about the workout,” she recalled from her days as a fitness facility owner. “It was never just about the body. It was never just about the money. It was all those things connected.”

While leaving the fitness industry took a leap of faith for the inspirational speaker, she stated it also felt like the right time. Still valuing fitness and what it contributes to the mind and spirit, Ormsby felt her fit was better suited to engaging with people emotionally.

“As an academic, I would love to go down the rabbit hole of theory and diagnosing,” she said. “But the truth of the matter is I feel I’m here to remind people of who and what they truly are and how capable they truly are. Not to solve problems, but to empower them.”

An avid reader and lover of expanded knowledge, the author jokes that she eats books for breakfast, always quenching her thirst for knowledge.

The knowledge she gains, she then breaks down to relatable topics empowering people to be free within their own lives.

“We’re far more than physical,” she said of emotional health. “Much of what we are and experience on a daily basis is unseen.

“The journey is to bring us back to what truly matters, aligning with that for ourselves,” she continued. “Allowing it to be okay for us to be uncomfortable and grown and this idea of are we enough.”

Hence the growing popularity of ‘life coaches,’ or in her case, working as a personal/professional development coach.

“It’s not that I’m coaching someone on their life,” she said of her work. “It’s more that I’m sharing insight and information that would help someone transform themself.”

As a person who once desperately struggled with her own happiness, Ormsby felt compelled to share her discovery of happiness with as many who are open to it.

“I thought it was difficult to be happy,” she said of her rough teen years and early career. “It seemed so far from my reality. Then I wanted to shout it from the roof tops. Not to impose my beliefs, but to share information so that someone might have the same experience I had.”

Now as she takes her findings to the masses via a book tour, sharing all that she has discovered with readers, Ormsby could not feel any more at home in her current role.

“I love all the way,” she said, “and I’m so grateful. We all deserve to feel like we’re doing what we came here to do. I wake up and think, this is happening. It’s really wild.

“There’s something about seeing the light go on in another person’s eyes that lights me up,” she summarized. “I feel the connection and it happens to me. I love being inspired.”

“I Am Happy. Healthy. Free.” Is available at Amazon.com. For dates and locations of Ormsby’s book tour can be found at